A synopsis of the story

Omar Razaghi (Omar Metwally) is a Kansas
University doctoral student who has a grant to write the biography of Jules
Gund - a Latin American author of some fame who committed suicide. Omar’s
academic and financial future depend on him writing the biography, but the
executors of Gund’s estate, his brother Adam (Anthony Hopkins), widow Caroline
(Laura Linney) and mistress Arden Langdon (Charlotte Gainsbourg) have refused
permission.

Urged on by his strong willed girlfriend
Deirdre (Alexandra Maria Lara), Omar travels to Gund’s large but dilapidated
estate in Uruguay in hope of convincing the executors to change their minds.
Once in Uruguay, he encounters unexpected adventures and life changing events.

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Relationships; a homosexual relationship between an adult man and a boy; suicide

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

The City of Your Final Destination contains
infrequent violence. Examples include:

An account of finding a man’s body after he
committed suicide by blowing the top of his head off with a gun.

A woman recounts an
imagined scene where one woman drowns another by repeatedly pushing her under
water with an oar. We see images of this happening.

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

Children in this age group are
unlikely to be disturbed by anything in this film.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or
used in this movie:

Apple laptop computer

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this
movie, including:

Reference is made to Jules Gund living with
both his wife and his mistress in the same house, and fathering a daughter to
his mistress.

Discussion of the relationship between Adam
and Pete suggests that Adam took Pete to England as a young boy and adopted him
as his son so that they could stay together. Adam now fears that his younger
lover may leave him after a relationship of almost 25 years

Arden tells Deirdre that she lied to a
doctor about Omar being her boyfriend, and that she did so because Argentinean
males view relationships between men and woman in romantic terms.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in
this movie, including:

Omar passionately kisses Arden on the lips.

Pete lies naked in bed next to Adam who is
clothed.

Woman wear low cut tops or bathing suits.

In a couple of scenes we see Adam kissing
Pete on the lips.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this
movie, including:

Women smoking cigarettes and in one scene a
woman smokes a cigar.

People drink champagne early in the day and
a woman remarks on this

Caroline makes a cocktail for herself and
Adam

Caroline, Adam and Omar drink Scotch.

Coarse language

None of concern

In a nutshell

City of Your Final Destination is a
romantic drama, based on a novel by Peter Cameron, with a strong cast. It is a
long and slow moving film and may lack interest for children. Its themes make it unsuitable for children
under 12.

The main messages from this movie are:

Love is a powerful emotion capable of
changing lives. It causes people to reassess what is important and meaningful
in their life.

Life may always be subject to chaos or
chaotic intervention.

Values that parents may wish to reinforce
with their children include love and selflessness. Both Adam and Pete
demonstrated love and selflessness by placing each other’s welfare and
happiness above their own personal needs. Omar discovered that his love for
Arden was more important than his career and financial security and sacrificed both
in order to be with her.

Parents may also wish to
discuss the questions raised by the long term relationship between Adam and the
much younger Pete which appears to have started when Pete was a boy.